10.21am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Unrest has returned to Sidi Bouzid, the cradle of the Tunisian uprising, and the Arab Spring itself, in response to the election results.

Tunisia

•The cancellation of all seats won by the fourth-placed party in the election (based on preliminary results) has prompted violent protests in Sidi Bouzid. The Popular List, led by British-based businessman Hachmi Hamdi was eliminated over alleged campaign finance violations. Hamdi used to support Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and during the election ran a populist campaign heavily promoted on the British-based television station he owns. His party was popular in Sidi Bouzid, where where 10 months ago vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in a protest against officialdom, igniting the uprising against Ben Ali's autocratic rule and inspiring uprisings in Egypt, Libya and other Arab states.

"They have set fire to a large part of the mayor's office, and the police are nowhere to be seen," local resident Mehdi Horcheni told Reuters by telephone from the town. He said elsewhere in the town, protesters set fire to an Ennahda campaign office and a training centre , while police used tear gas in a failed attempt to disperse the crowd.Another witness, Hafed Abdulli, said the crowd was burning tyres in the streets. "People are protesting against the cancellation of the Popular List," he said.

•The moderate Islamist party An-Nahda, has been declared as the official victor in the nation's first free elections. It took 90 of 217 seats in an assembly that will write a new constitution.

•The NTC continues to claim that Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam wants to hand himself into the international criminal court. An unnamed official told Reuters Islam had crossed into Niger but had not yet found a way to hand himself in to the court at The Hague. "There is a contact with Mali and with South Africa and with another neighbouring country to organise his exit ... He hasn't got confirmation yet, he's still waiting," said the official.

The footage of the destroyed office seems to tally with the eyewitness account given to Reuters (see 10.21am).

11.20am: The Tunisian military have been firing in the air to try to disperse protests in Sidi Bouzid, according to al-Arabiya.

Al-Jazeera reports that the authorities have been slow to react so the protesters have been on the rampage. But it adds that the interior ministry says teargas has been fired, there have been a number of arrests, and a curfew will start in Sidi Bouzid from 7pm local time (7pm BST).

11.38am: Turkey is providing shelter to the Syrian armed opposition group, the Free Syrian Army "and allowing them to orchestrate attacks across the border from inside a camp guarded by the Turkish military", the New York Times reports.

The support for the insurgents comes amid a broader Turkish campaign to undermine Mr. Assad's government. Turkey is expected to impose sanctions soon on Syria, and it has deepened its support for an umbrella political opposition group known as the Syrian National Council, which announced its formation in Istanbul. But its harboring of leaders in the Free Syrian Army, a militia composed of defectors from the Syrian armed forces, may be its most striking challenge so far to Damascus.

On Wednesday, the group, living in a heavily guarded refugee camp in Turkey, claimed responsibility for killing nine Syrian soldiers, including one uniformed officer, in an attack in restive central Syria ...

"This pushes Turkish policy further towards active intervention in Syria," said Hugh Pope, an analyst with the International Crisis Group. He called Turkey's apparent relationship with the Free Syrian Army "completely new territory."

11.47am: Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the moderate Islamist An-Nahda party is giving a press conference in Tunis. He says it will uphold "plurality".

Our doors and hearts are open to all. We are the supporters of freedom and tolerance.

11.57am: Reuters has an update on the violence in Sidi Bouzid:

Troops fired into the air on Friday to disperse a crowd trying to attack government offices in the town where the "Arab Spring" uprising began ...

Two witnesses in Sidi Bouzid told Reuters that a large crowd was trying to attack the local government headquarters in the town early on Friday.

"The military are trying to disperse the people with shots in the air and tear gas," one of the witnesses, Attia Athmouni, said by telephone.

The witnesses said shops and schools were shut and a security forces helicopter was hovering overhead

Late on Thursday, after election officials announced it would cancel several seats won by the Popular List party, a crowd in Sidi Bouzid set fire to an Ennahda office and the office of the local mayor.

An Interior Ministry source said a night curfew would be imposed in the town from 7pm. (7pm GMT) until 5am.

Ennahda leaders say the violence in Sidi Bouzid is an attempt by forces opposed to the revolution to destabilise the country, which has so far defied predictions that the election would tip the country into a crisis.

12.05pm: Nato has confirmed that it will end its Libyan mission next week, seven months after launching air and sea operations that helped bring the overthrow and death of Muammar Gaddafi, a Nato official said.

An NTC official has described the decision as "premature and ill-timed", al-Jazeera reports. Libya's interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil had said Nato should remain involved in Libya until the end of the year to help prevent Gaddafi loyalists from leaving the country.

Ambassadors from the 28 Nato states meeting in Brussels formalised a preliminary decision reached a week ago to end the mission on 31 October, the official said.

On Thursday, the 15-nation UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution terminating with effect from the same date a UN mandate that set a no-fly zone over Libya and permitted foreign military forces, including Nato, to use "all necessary measures" to protect Libyan civilians.

A video (WARNING: graphic) has been posted online of people, including a woman, purportedly killed in Bab Amr, in Homs. The truck on which the people are laid is covered with blood and the wounds of one man can be clearly seen. A child is also on the truck who appears to be appealing for help.

Photograph: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

1.00pm: The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court has told the Associated Press he is in indirect contact with Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam about the possibility of surrendering for trial.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo (left) said talks are being held through intermediaries whom he did not identify. He also said he did not know exactly where Islam is.

The prosecutor said he believes unidentified mercenaries are offering to find refuge for Gaddafi in an African country that does not cooperate with the court. He mentioned Zimbabwe as one possibility.

This is the first time the ICC has confirmed that Islam is interesting in surrendering. The Libyan National Transitional Council has been saying since Wednesday that he, and Gaddafi's former intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, were proposing to hand themselves over to the court.

1.15pm: The Local Co-ordination Committees claim the death toll in Syria has risen to 13 today, eight in Hama including a child and a woman, four in Homs, and one in Saraqeb, near the Turkish border.

In the video above, purportedly from Dara'a in the south today, people can be seen calling for a no-fly zone.

1.31pm: Here's a lunchtime summary.

Libya

•The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court has told the Associated Press he is in indirect contact with Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam about the possibility of surrendering for trial. Luis Moreno-Ocampo said talks are being held through intermediaries whom he did not identify. He also said he did not know exactly where Islam is.

•Nato has confirmed that it will end its Libyan mission next week, seven months after launching air and sea operations that helped bring the overthrow and death of Muammar Gaddafi. An official from the interim government, which wanted the mission to continue to help stop Gaddafi loyalists fleeing the country, told al-Jazeera the decision was "ill-timed and premature".

Tunisia

•There have been unconfirmed reports of shots fired in the air by the national guard in Sidi Bouzid, the cradle of the Tunisian revolution. A curfew starting from 7pm (7pm BST) has been imposed after supporters of the Popular List party, which had its seats cancelled in the election, went on the rampage. The Popular List, led by British-based businessman Hachmi Hamdi was eliminated over alleged campaign finance violations. Protesters set buildings on fire, including the mayor's office. The interior ministry told al-Jazeera teargas had been used and arrests had been made.

•Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of An-Nahda, the victorious party in the election, has called on the protesters in Sidi Bouzid to "exercise restraint". He said they should refrain from "any act that may smear the image of this city".

Syria

•Security forces have opened fire on protesters, as demonstrations have been held across the country calling for a no-fly zone over Syria. Activist group, the Local Co-ordination Committees, claims 13 people have been killed, eight in Hama including a child and a woman, four in Homs, and one in Saraqeb, near the Turkish border.

•Turkey is providing shelter to the Syrian armed opposition group, the Free Syrian Army "and allowing them to orchestrate attacks across the border from inside a camp guarded by the Turkish military", according to a report in the New York Times.

2.16pm: Here is the full statement by the international criminal court chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo relating to Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam:

Through intermediaries, we have informal contact with Saif. The office of the prosecutor has made it clear that if he surrenders to the ICC, he has the right to be heard in court, he is innocent until proven guilty. The judges will decide.

Additionally, we have learnt through informal channels that there is a group of mercenaries who are offering to move Saif to an African (country) not party to the Rome Statute of the ICC. The office of the prosecutor is also exploring the possibility to intercept any planewithin the air space of a state party in order to make an arrest.

This is a legal process and if the judges decide that Saif is innocent, or has served his sentence, he can request the judges to send him to a different country as long as that country accepts him.

Ocampo's office deny that any mention was made of Zimbabwe as the country mercenaries were offering to move him to, as was stated in the initial AP report (see 1pm).

2.34pm: The international criminal court chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, also gave an interview to CNN on the issue of Saif al-Islam.

He said of the reports that Islam wants to negotiate his surrender to the court:

They are informal conversations. I think they are exploring the possibility to appear before the court. We offer to them, of course we can help you to surrender to the court, and if he considers himself innocent he has the right to present this argument before the judges.

Asked who the informal conversations are with, he said:

I cannot give you details, it's informal there's another one [warrant] pending he knows that, he had to make a decision, if he considers himself innocent he will be respected here by the court ...

We don't make deals we have another warrant pending, so for us it is a matter of him surrendering to the court with a right to prove his innocence and after that the right to decide where to go or what happens with him. We believe we have a strong case we believe he should be convicted. So the conversation is about how to appear before the judges and how we present the evidence but we cannot offer any deal ...

It's not clear where he is, because if he's in Libya he can surrender to the government in Libya, if he's in a different country he can surrender to the countries who are a member of the treaty easily, so Niger, Tunisia are members of the treaty ...

The logistics will be solved, it is a matter of his decision. If he wants to present before the court, and present why he is innocent he can do it.

"God, Syria, We want a no-fly zone over it," shouted protesters in the Bab Tadmur neighborhood of Homs.

"A no-fly zone is a legitimate demand for Homs," read banners carried by protesters in the Khalidya neighborhood.

In Hama, activists and one resident said Assad loyalists fired at a demonstration demanding his overthrow as soon at it broke out from Abdelrahman Bin Aouf mosque.

"They attacked the protest immediately because the mosque is near the old Hamiuidya neighborhood and they did not want the two protests to meet," said one activist, who did not want to give his name for fear of persecution.

In Damascus, Youtube footage showed a crowd of hundreds holding shoulders and swaying in a traditional 'dabka' dance while singing an adaption of an old ballade.

"Tears flows from the eye, my mother, crying for Syria's youth," they chanted.

3.12pm: The violent demonstrations in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, may be over, if reports on Twitter are accurate.

When we consider which laws have been de facto annulled and changed for religious ones, we see that these are laws that directly affect the rights of women in marriage, divorce, guardianship, polygamy, inheritance, etc. i.e. family codes or laws of personal status. Women are directly targeted by this change in laws and will lose many acquired rights in the process.

We denounce the loose use of the term 'sharia' to give a false religious legitimacy to patriarchal interpretations of religion, as well as to patriarchal traditions.

WLUML calls on women's organizations and progressive people around the world to remain alert to the contradictions between pretending to be a democracy and decreeing the application of undefined religious laws.

Meanwhile, in Tunisia, Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of An-Nahda, the moderate Islamist party which was victorious in the election, has tried to reassure secularists by stressing that the new government will not impose a Muslim moral code.

It will not impose the wearing of the Islamic headscarf, or hijab, on women because all attempts to do that in other Arab states have failed, Ghannouchi said. He said women would have jobs in the new government "whether they wear a veil or don't wear a veil":

An-Nahda reaffirms its commitment to the women of Tunisia, to strengthen their role in political decision-making, in order to avoid any going back on their social gains.

Speakers include Kate Allen director of Amnesty International UK, Tamadur Abdullah, a Syrian medical doctor and former prisoner, Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) and Anas el Khani, chair of the British Solidarity for Syria.

4.09pm: Most of the deaths in Syria today appear to have been in the central cities of Homs and Hama.

The video below purports to show members of the Syrian security forces beating civilians in the Malab area of Homs today.

Essam Ali Atta, a civilian serving a two-year jail term in Cairo's high-security Tora prison following his conviction in a military tribunal earlier this year for an apparently "common crime", was reportedly attacked by prison guards after trying to smuggle a mobile phone sim card into his cell.

According to statements from other prisoners who witnessed the assault, Atta had large water hoses repeatedly forced into his mouth and anus on more than one occasion, causing severe internal bleeding. An officer then transferred Atta to a central Cairo hospital, but he died within an hour.

The death occurred less than 24 hours after two police officers in Alexandria were each sentenced to seven years in jail for their part in the murder of Khaled Said, a young businessman beaten to death by security forces in broad daylight last year. That incident led to the creation of the Facebook group "We are all Khaled Said" and helped mobilise a wave of protests which eventually toppled Mubarak in February.

On Friday, a new Facebook page entitled We are all Essam Atta appeared online, and quickly attracted thousands of supporters. Activists and human rights campaigners flocked to social media sites to express their fury at Egypt's ruling generals, whom many now view as indistinguishable from the Mubarak regime they replaced.

The leader of Arrida Ach-Chaabia, Mohamed Hechim Hamdi, a wealthy London-based businessman, has a sketchy past. Once a member of An-Nahda, he had a fallout with its leadership and then flirted with the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. He ran a populist campaign in the poor and forgotten periphery of Tunisia, promising handouts and subsidies without explaining how he would pay for them. Worse, he used his London-based TV station for campaigning outside the rules set by the electoral commission that constrained other Tunisian parties. Many Tunisians suspect him of having made arrangements with remnants of Ben Ali's party. His success demonstrates the depth of economic and social discontent outside the urban areas. It also shows how important outreach to voters was.

How Hamdi decides to proceed will matter a lot. He has called on Arrida candidates not to take their seats in the new assembly. While he does not command enough seats to block the process of constitution-drafting, he can cast doubts over the legitimacy of the exercise and stir popular anger. Many of those who voted for him didn't necessarily do it out of love or blind support. But if they feel that their vote has been annulled by condescending elites in Tunis, there is a risk that they will embrace Hamdi as a populist hero who can mount a significant challenge to the system and the transition ...

The potential for a brutal turn of events in Tunisia over the Arrida matter remains limited and should not overshadow the good news from Sunday's vote: turnout, non-violence, pluralism and fairness.

4.53pm:NOW Lebanon reports that a man has reportedly set himself on fire in Syria after the security forces tried to force him to reveal the location of his son, who is active against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime:

Activist Omar al-Jablawi told Al-Jazeera television that the man, identified as Abu Fadi, burned himself in the city of Jableh to prevent the police from forcing him into revealing the location of his activist son Fadi.

"Abu Fadi was threatened… and so was his other son Abdel Hadi… but [none] gave the security forces the information they wanted," Jablawi said.

He added that "Abu Fadi burned himself because the police threatened they would kill him if he does not reveal the location of his son Fadi."

Libya

•The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court has said he is in indirect contact with Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam about the possibility of surrendering for trial. Luis Moreno-Ocampo said talks are being held through intermediaries whom he did not identify. He also said he did not know exactly where Islam is. Moreno-Ocampo also said that mercenaries are offering to move Saif to an African country not party to the Rome Statute of the ICC.

•Nato has confirmed that it will end its Libyan mission next week, seven months after launching air and sea operations that helped bring the overthrow and death of Muammar Gaddafi. An official from the interim government, which wanted the mission to continue to help stop Gaddafi loyalists fleeing the country, told al-Jazeera the decision was "ill-timed and premature".

Tunisia

•There were unconfirmed reports that shots were fired in the air by the national guard in response to violence in Sidi Bouzid, the cradle of the Tunisian revolution. A curfew starting from 7pm (7pm BST) has been imposed after supporters of the Popular List party, which had its seats cancelled in the election, went on the rampage. The Popular List, led by British-based businessman Hachmi Hamdi was eliminated over alleged campaign finance violations. Protesters set buildings on fire, including the mayor's office. The interior ministry told al-Jazeera, helicopters were sent in, teargas had been used and arrests had been made. Reports later suggested that the protesters had gone home of their own volition.

•Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of An-Nahda, the victorious party in the election, pledged that his party would not impose a Muslim moral code and would uphold the rights of women, not requiring them to wear the veil. He also called on the protesters in Sidi Bouzid to "exercise restraint". He said they should refrain from "any act that may smear the image of this city".

Syria

• More than 30 people were killed as security forces opened fire on protesters calling for international intervention in the shape of a no-fly zone over Syria, activists said. The Local Co-ordination Committees, said 31 people were killed, 18 in Homs, nine in Hama,three in Daraa and one in Idlib. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 37 people were killed. A Syrian activist told al-Jazeera that a man set fire to himself after security forces threatened to kill him if he did not reveal the location of his son, an opponent of the Assad regime.

•Turkey is providing shelter to the Syrian armed opposition group, the Free Syrian Army "and allowing them to orchestrate attacks across the border from inside a camp guarded by the Turkish military", according to a report in the New York Times.

Egypt

•Egyptian officials have tortured a 24-year-old prisoner to death, provoking accusations that the increasingly unpopular junta is failing to dismantle Hosni Mubarak's brutal security apparatus. Essam Ali Atta, a civilian serving a two-year jail term in Cairo's high-security Tora prison following his conviction in a military tribunal earlier this year for an apparently "common crime", was reportedly attacked by prison guards after trying to smuggle a mobile phone sim card into his cell. According to statements from other prisoners who witnessed the assault, Atta had large water hoses repeatedly forced into his mouth and anus on more than one occasion, causing severe internal bleeding.

•Thousands of people have been protesting against the military rulers in Tahrir Square and against state media at the Maspero building, home to state TV, also in Cairo. A public funeral is also taking place in Tahrir Square for Essam Ali Atta after bearers carried his coffin there on foot.

The former Libyan leader amassed an enormous collection of military hardware during his decades in power. Much of it is now sitting virtually unguarded. Is it now destined to end up on the black market?